A tweet from a Democratic strategist went viral after she claimed that she had “safely ridden” the subway in New York City for 23 years and that critics were complaining about “imaginary monsters.”
Elizabeth Spiers was responding to a criticism from Dan MacLaughlin of National Review in the wake of the death of a black man after he threatened passengers and was put into a chokehold by a former U.S. Marine.
“Hi – New Yorker here. I’ve safely ridden the subway for 23 years and my child has never been menaced by a half naked lunatic, but these imaginary monsters in your head are addressable with therapy,” tweeted Spiers in response.
Her tweet received 1.3k likes of support and 1.7 views, but others derided her for downplaying the threat that many face on the New York City subway system.
“I worked in Manhattan from 1996-2020. While the city was safer for many of those years than it is today, if you’ve never encountered an alarming lunatic on the subway or its platforms, I question what city you’ve been traveling in,” MacLaughlin responded.
Others mocked her for making an argument for subway safety based on anecdotal evidence.
“I know someone from Chicago who’s never been shot. It follows that gun violence in that city is imaginary,” replied Seth Dillon of the Babylon Bee.
“This is not true. It used to be. If I thought my 13 year old son could safely and routinely take the subway I’d still live in NYC. It’s almost that simple,” responded columnist David Marcus.
“Your subway privilege is showing! I have been SPAT on, FOLLOWED, and witnessed full blown ASSAULTS. I have filed MULTIPLE police reports for crimes I’ve witnessed and I only lived in NYC for 7 years. Just because it doesn’t happen to you, doesn’t mean it’s imaginary,” replied Hayley Caronia, an OutKick producer.
“My daughter used to be a New Yorker too but her experience was different. She felt unsafe when she rode the subway. So much so that she moved to a different city when her job went remote. Thanks for invalidating her experience because apparently only yours matters,” read another popular response.
Many on the left have claimed Jordan Neely was killed because he was a black man, but others defend the actions of the 24-year-old former Marine by pointing out that Neely had 42 prior arrests and had been threatening passengers.
Spiers was the founder of Gawker before it went under and also worked as the editor of the New York Observer when Jared Kushner owned the publication.
Here’s more about the death of Jordan Neely:
Jordan Neely video shows U.S. cities are ‘BECOMING GOTHAM’www.youtube.com
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